sustainable technology in a 2.0 world

Sarah Houghton-JanDigital Futures Manager for the San Jose Public LibraryAuthor of LibrarianInBlack.net

Sustainable Technology

in a 2.0 World

What is changing in libraries?

The Library

The Librarian

Library Users

Where do people go for “stuff”? Not the library

What kind of stuff do people want? Not the bulk of the outdated, worn stuff at

the library (nor do they want to wait for it) How do people find information?

Not at the library Do people think they need help finding info?

No, and not from a stuffy librarian, darn it

Library Users (and non-users)

brick and mortar library

users

digital library users

POWER USERS

Library Users Today

These groups are growing dramatically.This group is growing slowly.

brick and mortar library users

digital library users POWER

USERS

Library Users Tomorrow

Angry Robot courtesy of www.bohdate.com/angryrobot

Instant MessagingBlogsWikisSkypeUser CommentsPhoto SharingAvatarsGamingPodcastingVideocastingOnline Book ClubsText Messaging Updates &

Reference

Some 2.0 Services We Want in All of Our Libraries...Right Now

2.0 worthy CatalogsSocial BookmarkingTaggingSocial NetworksVOIPRSS FeedsMash-UpsWidgetsVideo ConferencingTwitter/Microblogging

The physical library

Media Stations in the Library

The digital library

What are we thinking to be attempting all of

this at once???

Planning for New Services

Advocate to Your Leadership

Library's most public face Online = your website Offline = your library staff, services, &

resources Libraries are digital resource centers Online eBranch services are available 24/7 eBranch is c-h-e-a-p to run

Highest return on investment in use vs. dollars

Why are 2.0 Services Important?

A (Wo)Man, A Plan, a...Library

Successful Library Service Planning:

1) Service Hierarchy of Needs

2) Formal 3-Year Service Goals Plan

Technology Hierarchy of Needs

Successful Projects & Plans Ask, ask, ask users, non-users,

and staff Ensure stable funding (sponsorships

& grants are fine, but you have to be able to continue)

Create a mission statement for your plan

Follow your Hierarchy of Needs Plan no more than 3 years out 

Determining Users' Needs

What do our users want more of from us? 

Have we ever asked? Surveys (online and print) Small focus groups Ask about online & offline activities,

information needs, and entertainment preferences

Don't ask about what they don't know

Project Planning is Easy...

Time and Money Completion Date (start date Sept. 15)

Research 10 hours, $0 September 22

Committee review 20 hours, $0 October 6

Software installation 10 hours, $35 October 13

Staff training 40 hours, $0 November 3

Can add costs for staff time, add explicit deliverables, breaking each step down further, listing who is

responsible for what.

The Holy Trinity of Successful Launches

1. Staff Training2. Soft Launch 3. Advertising

Launching New Services

Part of training is information Keep staff informed throughout project

(through a blog, email announcements, etc.)

Provide staff exposure at least 1 month before soft launch

Offer staff formal training in that time

Staff Training

Getting Staff Buy InLet staff know about the project

early.Ask staff for their input and use it.Keep everyone informed at all stages.Managers must consistently support

the new project or service.

Play with it, touch it, and learn it.Fun. Rewards. Food.Types and numbers of trainingsOpen trainings to all staff…periodMandatory of voluntary

attendance?

Training Staff on New Stuff

Scheduled LearningClassroom training (small or large

groups)Peer training (train the trainer)Daily or weekly “learn-by-email”

tutorialsUse in-house talent, vendors, or

consultants to train

Unscheduled Learning

Read a how-to cheat-sheet Review online tutorialsSelf-paced online classesView recorded webcasts,

podcasts, screencasts, or videocasts

Promote Ongoing Learning

Give staff 15 minutes a day to study/learn.

Schedule 1 off-desk hour for self-study.

Share what you find with each other.

Beta testing for everything!1. Launch the new service for a small

group of staff first to find big bugs.

2. Launch for entire staff and ask for feedback, problems, suggestions.

3. Launch for users without “hard” promotion and ask for feedback.

4. Do a hard launch and promote.

Soft Launches

Why Advertise New 2.0 Services?Library System #1 (150,000 residents)

Library System #2 (350,000 residents)

Website visits 5.6 6.3

Database usage 0.7 0.4

eBooks usage 0.2 0.3

Virtual Reference usage

0.01 0.01

Annual per capita usage of eServicesat two California public library systems

Creative Marketing

Advertising ≠ Bookmarks

Raising Awareness and UsageWhat do we think they would want to

use more – if only they knew about it?PR in our web presence

On our website (targeted promotions everywhere)

On Facebook, blogs, MySpace, Yelp, Google Maps...

PR in the physical world In print (in libraries and community

facilities) F2F (staff talking with people, word of

mouth) Outreach (partnerships, community

presence)

Keep Everything Current

www.flickr.com/photos/ogman/252251866/

Survey users and staff 6 months after launch Would you recommend this service to a

friend? Why or why not? Evaluate statistics

How much staff time is being used? How much is the service being accessed?

Evaluate the library's follow-through Has adequate marketing been done yet? Has adequate training been done yet?

Evaluating New Services

Continue serviceDiscontinue serviceExtend pilotChange aspects of the serviceDo more promotion or training

Results of EvaluationDiscontinuing a service is not failing.

Persisting in a failed effort is failing.

Don't Forget to Celebrate SuccessEntire library should celebrate the

success of the new service Share statistics and user comments Share anecdotal stories from staff

Have contests between units/locations for usage, or F2F promotion to users

Do something out of the ordinary!

Photo by Jenny Levine: http://flickr.com/photos/shifted/2113776727/

Have a gaming party!

Staff trading cards!

Photos by Homer Township Library: http://flickr.com/photos/homerlibrary/433104519/ and http://flickr.com/photos/homerlibrary/433102240/in/photostream/

Have cake!

Keep Going!!!

Try new things Push administrators

They like 24/7 web services, minimal staffing and cheap costs, numbers that show the highest ROI of all of the library's services)

Share anecdotal stories from staff

Rejoice in failures – it means you're pushing boundaries.

Sarah Houghton-JanIM/Skype: LibrarianInBlack

email: LibrarianInBlack@gmail.com